Mormon Baseball

There might be more to say about the Mormons in the minors this week if so many weren’t on the disabled list. A week ago Bryan Harper and Mitch Talbot were on the 7-day list, and this past week they were joined by Cale Iorg and Mitch Maier. And only Harper seems ready to return to play.

And while they are out, there isn’t too much to focus on.The best performance was from Jacksonville Suns’ pitcher Matt Neil, who gave up just 1 earned run in 5 innings, but failed to earn hist first win of the year when his team lost the game after he left the field. Neil has brought his era down to 4.79 and seems to have settled down to his standard pitching form, we hope.

Neil was joined last week by another fine performance from Taylor Mangum, who gave up an earned run in 4 innings, which lifted his era from stunningly good to merely very good at 1.42. If Mangum keeps this up we can expect to see him in AA later this year.

Unfortunately, other pitchers in the minors didn’t fare as well. Tyson Brummett pitched ok (3.60 era), giving up 4 earned runs over 10 innings, but lost one of the two games he started last week. Others were mediocre or, in the case of Brandon Duckworth, who is playing in Japan, disastrous.

Among position players, the disabled status of Iorg and Maier left Stephen Parker hitting .250 and Shane Peterson hitting .167 at the AAA level. The better performance was from Jeff Gelalich, who hit .280 last week for the Dayton Dragons (A, Reds), a smidge better than he has so far this year.

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• Tyson Brummett — relief pitcher (right handed) — New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA Eastern League) — Toronto Blue Jays
  0-1, 3.60 era, 8 hits, 4 er, 11 k, 5 bb in 10.0 innings
  YTD: 0-3, 6.87 era, 18 hits, 14 er, 17 k, 12 bb in 18.1 innings
• Taylor Cole — starting pitcher (right handed) — Lansing Lugnuts (Midwest League A) — Toronto Blue Jays
  0-1, 4.22 era, 9 hits, 5 er, 8 k, 6 bb in 10.2 innings
  YTD: 1-2, 4.44 era, 22 hits, 12 er, 20 k, 11 bb in 24.1 innings
• Jeff Gelalich — outfielder — Dayton Dragons (Midwest League A) — Cincinnati Reds
  7 for 25 (.280) 2 run, 3 rbi, 0 hr, 2 bb, 3 sb, 4 so
  YTD: .271, 13 run, 8 rbi, 0 hr, 8 bb, 8 sb, 15 so in 85 at bats
• Austin Hall — pitcher (right handed) — AZL Brewers (Arizona Leauge Rookie) — Milwaukee Brewers
  (opening game June 20)
• Bryan Harper — relief pitcher (left handed) — Hagerstown Suns (South Atlantic League – A) — Washington Nationals
  Was on 7-day DL — did not pitch this past week
  YTD: 1-0, 1.59 era, 5 hits, 1 er, 7 k, 3 bb in 5.2 innings
• Blaine Howell — relief pitcher (left handed) — unassigned?? (was with Bakersfield Blaze of the California League – A+) — Cincinnati Reds
  no information — did not play
  
• Cale Iorg — Second base — Bowie Baysox (Eastern League AA) — Baltimore Orioles
  Disabled — on 7-day DL — did not play this past week
  YTD: .179, 1 run, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 11 so in 28 at bats
• Marcus Littlewood — catcher — Clinton LumberKings (Midwest League – A) — Seattle Mariners
  3 for 14 (.214) 1 run, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 2 bb, 0 sb, 8 so
  YTD: .208, 2 run, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 2 bb, 0 sb, 9 so in 24 at bats
• Mitch Maier — outfielder —Pawtucket Red Sox (International League – AAA) — Boston Red Sox
  Disabled — on 7-day DL — did not play this past week
  YTD: .321, 8 run, 7 rbi, 1 hr, 5 bb, 0 sb, 4 so in 28 at bats
• Taylor Mangum — relief pitcher (right-handed) — Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Midwest League – A) — Milwaukee Brewers
  0-0, 2.25 era, 3 hits, 1 er, 2 k, 1 bb in 4.0 innings
  YTD: 1-1, 1.42 era, 10 hits, 2 er, 10 k, 5 bb in 12.2 innings
• Matt Neil — starting pitcher (right handed) — Jacksonville Suns (Southern League – AA) — Miami Marlins
  0-0, 1.80 era, 4 hits, 1 er, 5 k, 1 bb in 5.0 innings
  YTD: 0-2, 4.79 era, 23 hits, 11 er, 16 k, 5 bb in 20.2 innings
• Stephen Parker — 3rd base — Nashville Sounds (Pacific Coast League – AAA) — Milwaukee Brewers
  4 for 16 (.250) 1 run, 2 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 6 so
  YTD: .243, 8 run, 5 rbi, 2 hr, 4 bb, 1 sb, 20 so in 74 at bats
• Shane Peterson — outfielder — Sacramento River Cats (Pacific Coast League – AAA) — Oakland A’s (40-man MLB roster)
  3 for 18 (.167) 4 run, 1 rbi, 0 hr, 5 bb, 1 sb, 7 so
  YTD: .273, 20 run, 10 rbi, 0 hr, 24 bb, 1 sb, 20 so in 77 at bats
• Mitch Talbot — starting pitcher (right handed) — New Orleans Zephyrs (Pacific Coast League – AAA)— Miami Marlins
  On 7-day DL
  YTD: 1-0, 0.00 era, 2 hits, 0 er, 3 k, 2 bb in 5.0 innings
• Nik Turley — starting pitcher (right handed) — Trenton Thunder (Eastern League – AA) — New York Yankees (40-man MLB roster)
  1-0, 5.40 era, 6 hits, 3 er, 4 k, 4 bb in 5.0 innings
  YTD: 2-1, 5.79 era, 28 hits, 15 er, 22 k, 13 bb in 23.1 innings

Foreign Leagues:

• Brandon Duckworth — starting pitcher (right handed) — Rakuten Golden Eagles (Japan)
  0-1, 15.75 era, 8 hits, 7 er, 4 k, 1 bb in 4.0 innings
  YTD: 1-3, 4.71 era, 35 hits, 15 er, 16 k, 10 bb in 28.2 innings

Last Year’s players released: (could still be picked up by other teams)

• Derek Cone — starting pitcher (right handed) — Los Angeles Dodgers organization Released.
  Cone has returned to school at ASU pursuing a degree in Accounting
• Willie Mays Eyre — starting pitcher (right handed) — Texas Rangers organization
  Retired
• Kyle Hurst — relief pitcher (right handed) — Independent
  Released
• Lance Pendleton — starting pitcher (right handed) — Tampa Bay Ray’s organization
  Released
  Now a salesman with Baker Hughes
• Jordan Whatcott — relief pitcher (right handed) — Philadelphia Phillies organization
  Released

Other players who may be Mormon:
[We need to determine if these players are Mormon before publishing further information about them.]

Rick Anton, Jay Brossman, Brian Budrow, Tyler Chism, Dallas Christison, Stephen Fife, Tyler Hanks,Steve Hirschfeld, Zachary Jones, Ryan Khoury, Kam Mickolio (apparently not Mormon, but I don’t have evidence either way), Cole Miles, A. J. Murray, Jordan Taylor Pratt, Tanner Robles, Braeden Schlehuber, Justin Smith, Matt Spring, Brad Thompson

Non-Mormons who may be confused for Mormons

Matt Carson (non-Mormon who went to BYU), Derek Christensen, Egan Smith, Jordan Smith